Operation: DUMB
by Gothic Dancer
Summary: The third story in the TND series. Number 3's birthday is coming up. He's not happy. Numbah 3 decides to cheer him up with a party, but things could get kinda dumb, and she hired Grandma Stuffums to make the cake! Chapter 6, the last chapter, is up!
1. Chapter 1: Party Prediction

Disclaimer: I don't own the KND. I own the TND, but that's really it. Um, I guess I own the Delightful Teens from Down the Lane, but everybody else belongs to Tom Warburton.  
  
Okay, here it is! Finally! It's the third story in the Teens Next Door series. Sorry it took so long to put up. Anyway, listen up, Number 1's got an announcement.  
  
Number 1: *clears throat* Ahem, IF YOU HAVE NOT READ BOTH OPERATION: T.E.E.N.S. AND OPERATION: S.H.A.R.E., YOU MUST DO SO NOW BEFORE YOU READ ANY FURTHER!!! Thank you.  
  
Thank you, Number 1! Now then, on with the story!  
  
Now loading, Kids Next Door mission. Operation: D.U.M.B.  
  
Dan Underestimates Merry Birthday  
  
~*Chapter 1*~  
  
Number 3 tossed and turned in his sleep. He was having a nightmare. Sweat poured down his face as he tried to find a comfortable spot to stop the nightmare. He breathed heavily. It was the same thing every year. Every year around his birthday, Number 3 always had nightmares. Sometimes, they wouldn't be that bad. Other times, like when the moon was in its waning stage, they would be horrific. He was lucky tonight. The moon was starting to become visible again; it was in its waxing stage. Still, nightmares haunted his thoughts. The strange thing was, it was the same one every year. In his nightmare, Number 3 would be running away from something. He didn't know what. It was evil though. Sometimes, it would take the form of a boy that somewhat looked like him. Other times, it was a giant shadow. Tonight, it was a shadow. Number 3 begged his eyes to open, but they remained stubborn and stayed shut. He couldn't stand that. He tried as hard as he could, and his eyes flashed open with hot tears of fear running down his face. He sat up in bed.  
  
"Stupid nightmares," he whispered, rubbing his head. "Why the crud does the same one come every year?"  
  
Number 3 scanned his room. He was sleeping in his wrestling ring with a bunch of blankets over him and a pillow squished to the side. Numbah 3 was sleeping on the other side of the ring surrounded by a bunch of stuffed animals. She seemed fine.  
  
"She must've not heard me squirming over here." Number 3 announced to nobody. "I can't wait for their stupid tree house to be rebuilt. The sooner, the better."  
  
Number 3 looked at his clock. It read 6:51 in the morning. His calendar read January 21, eight days before his birthday on January 29.  
  
"It's still early, but maybe Number 1 is up to watch her morning cartoons." He said. He got up, slipped his socks and boots on, and went downstairs.  
  
Downstairs, Number 1 was pouring cereal and milk into her bowl. She was in her red pajamas and black bathrobe. She looked up at her teammate coming down the stairs.  
  
"You're up early." She observed. "It's Saturday. Don't you usually sleep until noon on the weekends?"  
  
"I couldn't sleep." Number 3 said. "I had a nightmare."  
  
"Is it that same one that comes every year?" Number 1 asked. "You'd think evil spirits like that would get bored with a mind like yours."  
  
"Gee, thanks." Number 3 said sarcastically.  
  
"I didn't mean it that way." Number 1 corrected herself. "I just mean that things like that should go away eventually."  
  
Number 3 shrugged and grabbed his breakfast bowl from the cabinet. He poured some sugary cereal and milk into his bowl and stirred it all up.  
  
"Do you want to watch the Saturday morning cartoons with me?" Number 1 asked. "They start half-an-hour earlier than normal."  
  
"Sure," Number 3 replied. "You don't usually offer things like that, you know."  
  
"I know." Number 1 said. "But you're up. I might as well."  
  
Number 3 nodded and followed Number 1 to the TV room. The two TND operatives sat down on the couch and turned the giant-screen TV on. An old cartoon that neither of them had ever heard of was ending and commercials were starting up.  
  
As the commercials were playing, Number 3 thought of something random. It was another legend that Number 1's mom had told her, and then she had told the rest of the team.  
  
Flashback  
  
"Hey guys! This reminds me of a story my mom told me once." A young Number 1 said to her team. They were sitting in a circle with flashlights during a storm that had caused them to loose power, even with their hamster supply.  
  
"Once, a very long time ago, a baby boy was born in a poor village. He was a beautiful boy with a very special gift. He had the power of charm on his side. Even before he could talk or crawl, he could make anybody that laid eyes on him smile."  
  
"The boy grew up to be a healthy and strong young man. At the age of thirteen, just about every girl in the entire village wanted to see him and every family wanted him to visit them every day. He was growing to be popular. He and his family were very happy. It was even said that the boy made crops flourish and soil grow fertile. The village wasn't so poor anymore."  
  
"Times were good until a harsh ruler, the same one that took that young woman, noticed this boy and all his perfection. She became angry, but more, jealous. She flew down to Earth from her home planet. She landed on Earth and forced her slave, the young woman that she had kidnapped, to find him. The slave did as she was told because if she didn't, she'd loose her privileges. It hurt her to do it, but she grabbed the boy and took him to her ruler."  
  
"The ruler smirked when she saw the boy face her." 'Boy,' she said. 'I have noticed your amazing power of charm. If you join me, I will see to it that you have everything you could ever want.' 'I have exactly what I want!' the boy cried. 'I have a place in my home where I belong!' The ruler looked disgusted. 'Then you shall be cursed!' she screamed. The boy opened his eyes, and he was in his village."  
  
End Flashback  
  
"Hello! Number 3, are you still with me?" Number 1 waved her hand in front of Number 3's face. He snapped back to reality with a jolt.  
  
"Woah, um, yeah, I'm okay." He assured. "I just had a little spazztic moment."  
  
"I think it was more than that." Number 1 announced, sitting back in her spot, shoving a spoonful of cereal in her mouth. "You seemed to be in a trance!"  
  
"I was just imitating you when you meditate." Number 3 lied. Number 1 cocked an eyebrow and turned her attention to the cartoons coming on TV.  
  
Lately, Number 1 had been trying to control her temper through meditation. It was working. At the same time, she was building her psychic strength and ESP. It was true that the rest of the TND and even the KND often imitated her when she wasn't around, but that wasn't what Number 3 had been doing.  
  
A little while later, Numbah 1, Numbah 3, and Number 2 came downstairs in their pajamas. They each poured cereal and milk into their bowls and joined Number 1 and Number 3 in front of the TV.  
  
"Good morning." Number 1 greeted her friends.  
  
"Morning." Number 2 replied. "What's going on for today?"  
  
"I'm going back to bed." Number 3 announced, going way off topic. He trudged up the stairs and the rest of the team head him slam the door to his room.  
  
"That was really random." Numbah 1 observed.  
  
"It was funny!" Numbah 3 cried.  
  
The rest of the team obviously heard, and they came walking down the stairs.  
  
"What's all the racket? Numbah 5 is trying to get some beauty sleep." Numbah 5 announced, obviously annoyed.  
  
"That was Number 3." Number 2 replied. "He's in a bad mood this morning."  
  
"Why?" Numbah 2 asked.  
  
"We have no clue why." Number 1 answered for her teammate. "He's been acting weird for the past few days. It's like he's not even Number 3 anymore!"  
  
"That's ridiculous." Numbah 1 objected. "Didn't you once tell us that he always gets like this around his birthday?"  
  
"Well, he does," Number 1 began. "But I'm still not convinced. He's the first of our team to have a birthday, you know. This is a big year, too. He'll be fourteen."  
  
"Yeah," Number 4 agreed. "None of us Teens Next Door like to have birthdays."  
  
"Why is it such a big deal being fourteen?" Numbah 4 asked. "It's not like he's turning eighteen or something."  
  
"It would really suck if he was turning eighteen." Number 1 said. "That's the age where we have to retire from the Teens Next Door."  
  
"Yeah, that goes back to my question." Numbah 4 continued. "Why is it such a big deal being fourteen?"  
  
"Number 3 believes that he's related to this boy in this legend that Number 1 told us once." Number 5 announced.  
  
"That legend is so true!" Number 1 shouted, being defensive. "Every single bit of it!"  
  
"Uh-huh," Number 5 agreed sarcastically. "Sure it is."  
  
"I'm serious!" Number 1 continued defending her remark. "That story isn't a myth! It's one hundred percent non-fiction! You guys have to believe me!"  
  
"Yeah, don't hold your breath." Number 4 said. The rest of the team burst out laughing. Number 1 gave them a stubborn look.  
  
{Those stories are not fake.} She thought. {You'll see one of these days. Through meditation, I've been able to see a place through the space time continuum. Something is happening there. Something bad.}  
  
"Hello! Number 1! Now is not the time for a trance moment!" Number 5 snapped.  
  
"I'm in no trance." Number 1 reassured.  
  
"Yeah, then did you hear what we were saying?" Numbah 5 asked.  
  
"Um," Number 1 hesitated.  
  
"She didn't." Numbah 4 spoke for her.  
  
"Whatever." Number 1 sighed it off. "What were you saying?"  
  
"We're going to throw Number 3 a surprise birthday party!" Numbah 3 exclaimed. "He'll be so happy!"  
  
"Party!" Number 2 shouted. "I love parties! I love parties!"  
  
"Shut up, Number 2." Number 1 ordered. "I mean it."  
  
Number 2 stopped and lowered her head.  
  
"What do you think of the idea, Number 1?" Numbah 1 asked. "It sounds fun, doesn't it?"  
  
"I don't know." Number 1 said uneasily. "I didn't think Number 3 liked surprises."  
  
"But this is a party!" Numbah 3 insisted. "I'm throwing it whether you like it or not!"  
  
Number 1 watched the KND and TND walk away and climb the stairs to start planning the party. Number 1 sunk her head low and crossed her legs to begin a moment of meditation to calm herself. Before she could get very far, a thought struck her.  
  
"I know that legend is true." She said to herself. "I'm sure of it, but nobody believes me."  
  
Number 1 stopped and thought.  
  
"Wait!" she exclaimed. "I know one person who believes everything I say about this stuff!"  
  
Number 1 picked up the phone and dialed up a number. She sat there for a minute listening to the ring until someone picked up.  
  
"Hello?" the person on the other end asked.  
  
"Number 8, Number 1. Meet me at corner store in fifteen minutes."  
  
~*End of Chapter One*~ 


	2. Chapter 2: Number 1's Plan

Disclaimer: See chapter one.  
  
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! I have no reviews! I got, like, one during this entire time. The story's been up for almost a week and nobody's noticed? Hello! People! I know you're out there! Review please! I'll give a bag of sugar to anybody that reviews this chapter! Oh and, Numbuh 77, you totally made me happy with your review. Sugar for you! Moon girl 16, you always review everything I do. Two bags of sugar for you!  
  
~*Chapter 2*~  
  
Number 1 slowly and quietly walked up the stairs to her room. It was about quarter past seven and she needed to get to the corner store to talk to Number 8, a Teen Next Door from the next town. Number 1 gently creaked the door to her room open and stepped inside. She closed the door softly behind her and made sure it was locked. When she was sure, she tiptoed over to her closet to get dressed. She stealthily pulled a red sweater off a coat hanger and a black skirt from another drawer. Slowly, she took her bathrobe and pajamas off and slipped her day clothes on. She looked behind her at the thermometer hanging on the other side of the room next to a window. It read 36 degrees Fahrenheit. Deciding that it was cold out, she pulled black tights and black combat boots from the bottom of her closet and slipped them on. She then walked over to her mirror and combed out her dirty-blonde hair, and put some make-up on. When that was done, she walked over to her door, opened it up, and stepped outside. She closed the door softly and went to leave.  
  
"What are you doing?"  
  
The voice made Number 1 jump, and she was scared for a moment before realizing that the voice had a British accent to it.  
  
"Don't scare me like that!" she ordered, keeping her voice down.  
  
"I didn't mean to scare you," Numbah 1 explained. "I just wanted to know what you were doing."  
  
"Getting dressed." Number 1 replied. "Is that so wrong?"  
  
"At 7:15 in the morning? On a Saturday?" Numbah 1 asked, crossing his arms. "That's not like you."  
  
"I've got a top-secret Teens Next Door meeting." Number 1 lied. "I just forgot it was this early in the morning."  
  
"Uh-huh, sure." Numbah 1 said sarcastically, obviously not convinced.  
  
"Forget you." Number 1 said, shooing Numbah 1 away. She started walking down the stairs. Numbah 1 sighed, annoyed.  
  
"What are you really doing?" he asked. "If you did have a Teens Next Door mission, we would've heard about it."  
  
"This one was super-secret." Number 1 replied, looking for an excuse. "I shouldn't have even told you about it."  
  
"Uh-huh." Numbah 1 sighed again. "Sure."  
  
"I'm serious!" Number 1 defended herself. She continued walking down the stairs.  
  
"Don't do anything stupid." Numbah 1 added.  
  
"Who are you? My mom?" Number 1 turned around and shot a stubborn look at her counterpart. "Lay off, would ya?"  
  
"Whatever." Numbah 1 turned and went up into Number 1's room.  
  
{That tree house better get rebuilt soon.} Number 1 thought. {I'm tired of sharing my room.}  
  
Number 1 quietly walked down the stairs of her tree house, and then through her actual house. She slipped on her winter coat and walked outside. She casually strolled down the street, making her way to the corner store. The streets were bare except for the occasional snowflakes falling from the sky.  
  
Eventually, Number 1 came upon downtown. She walked down Main Street, past the dentist office, past the candy store, and across the street to the corner store.  
  
"Number 8!" Number 1 called.  
  
Number 8 turned around and faced Number 1.  
  
"Hi!" she called back. "Come on. Let's go inside the store. This frost is making my hair stiff."  
  
Number 1 and Number 8 walked inside the corner store and took off their coats. Number 8 was a short girl who was known as Melissa to adults. She had bright, blonde hair up in pigtails. She wore a tennis outfit that was obviously home made. It was lime green with hot pink stripes going horizontally on the shirt and vertically on the skirt. She also wore a necklace with a little heart charm. She was an ex-cheerleader. When she turned thirteen and was accepted into the Teens Next Door, she gave it up and took up tennis. More Teens Next Door played tennis than cheerleading, and she decided that it was too girly for a teen like her. She was, after all, slightly punk, even though she didn't really show it.  
  
"Why are you still wearing that tennis outfit?" Number 1 asked. "It's winter!"  
  
"I like it." Number 8 smiled. "Besides, all my winter clothes are in the wash."  
  
"I didn't think you had any winter clothes." Number 1 scratched her head.  
  
"I went shopping." Number 8 said simply.  
  
{Dude! What is with the lying today?} Number thought. First, she had lied to Numbah 1 about the meeting, and now Number 8 was lying about winter clothes! Number 1 could tell. Number 8 always got really giggly whenever she was telling a lie, and she was having a hard time saying her sentence without slightly cracking up.  
  
"Okay, maybe we can go shopping." Number 1 suggested.  
  
"Mission to the mall!" Number 8 shouted. "I've got to get my wallet! I left it at the tree house!"  
  
"We're not going to the mall now." Number 1 pointed out. "I've got a different type of mission for us to handle."  
  
"No shopping?" Number 8 asked. Her lips quivered and her eyes were watering.  
  
"Well, uh," Number 1 fumbled with her words. "Maybe we can go to the mini mall on the other side of town after the mission."  
  
"That could take all day!" Number 8 pouted, stamping her foot.  
  
"I promise that it won't. You have my word as first in command of the Teens Next Door." Number 1 raised her right hand signaling that she meant it.  
  
"All right, I'll help you with this mission." Number 8 gave in. "What was it again?"  
  
"I haven't told you in the first place." Number 1 crossed her arms. "Anyway, the KND and the rest of my TND want to give Number 3 a surprise birthday party since he's been feeling a little down lately."  
  
"Uh-huh," Number 8 obviously didn't understand.  
  
"Something tells me that it isn't right." Number 1 continued. "I'm worried that something could happen. I pulled a meditation and saw something."  
  
"What was it?" Number 8 asked, getting curious.  
  
"I'm not sure myself." Number 1 confessed. "Something was in pain. It looked like an innocent kid."  
  
"What does that have to do with Number 3's birthday?" Number 8 asked.  
  
"I think the party may be the cause of whatever in going on." Number 1 explained. "There's been an extremely slight disturbance in the time space continuum. I just want to stop whatever that is from happening. My theory is that Number 3's birthday party could lead to disaster, so we have to stop it."  
  
"How do we do that?" Number 8 asked. "We can't change time!"  
  
"I don't want to change time!" Number 1 snapped. "I want to stop a horrible future from happening!"  
  
"Okay! I'm sorry!" Number 8 put her hands in front of her defensively.  
  
"It's okay." Number 1 reassured. "It's my fault. I'm just a little jumpy. I had to sneak out of the tree house to get here, Numbah 1 almost caught me."  
  
"That kid needs to mind his own business!" Number 8 exploded. "When's that tree house of his going to be rebuilt?"  
  
"Hopefully sometime early in February, before my birthday." Number 1 sighed. "If we work harder than normal, maybe we can make it by the end of this month."  
  
"Whatever." Number 8 went off-topic. "What do you want me to do about the whole disastrous birthday thing?"  
  
"I say we get someone to stop it for us." Number 1 smiled slyly.  
  
"You mean the rest of my team?" Number 8 asked.  
  
"Nope." Number 1 corrected her teammate. "I'm talking you-know-who."  
  
"No," Number 8 whispered. "YOU CALLED ME DOWN AT 7:15 IN THE MORNING JUST TO HIRE GR-"  
  
"Shhhhh!!!" Number 1 slapped her hand over Number 8's mouth. "Don't say it!"  
  
"Mmm? Mmmm mmhmh hhmm?" Number 8 asked.  
  
"What?" Number 1 asked back, slowly moving her hand.  
  
"I said, 'Are you sure that's a good idea?'"  
  
"It's risky, but I am sure that it could work." Number 1 reassured. "Nothing can go wrong!"  
  
"I don't know about that." Number 8 scratched her head. "No offense or anything, Meg, but all plans have some flaws."  
  
"YOU DARE TO CALL ME BY MY FIRST NAME DURING A MISSION???" Number 1 screamed, and she pointed her index finger right in front of Number 8's face.  
  
"Sorry, I just," Number 8 stumbled over her words.  
  
"Oh, shut up, would ya?" Number 1 said meanly. "I don't even know why I called you for this mission. I'm going ahead with the plan, and I don't give a damn if you aren't a part of it!"  
  
Number 1 stormed her way out of the corner store, picking up her coat along the way. She threw it on and zipped it up and headed for home. Number 8 could only stand in the corner store, shocked.  
  
At the TND tree house, Number 1 met up with the rest of the team, working on Number 3's birthday party.  
  
"Where's Numbah 1?" she asked.  
  
"He's upstairs." Number 2 replied. "He's changing into his day clothes."  
  
"Where have you been?" Numbah 5 asked, suspicious. "Numbah 5's just wondering."  
  
"I went out to see what we could do about a cake!" Number 1 exclaimed.  
  
"Really?" Numbah 3 couldn't believe it.  
  
"Yeah," Number 1 confirmed. "But the bakery said that you'd need to call them in order to get the thing done."  
  
"Okay!" Numbah 3 cheered. "I'll call later. It's still really early."  
  
"Good idea." Number 1 agreed. She walked into the hang out room and took her cel phone out of her pocket. She dialed a number and listened to the other line ring twice. Then, somebody picked up.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Number 1. Listen up."  
  
Number 1 brought her mouth close to the phone and whispered in her tiniest voice:  
  
"I'm going to need a cake. I've got a Teens Next Door sweet deal for ya. What do you say, Grandma?"  
  
~*End of Chapter Two*~ 


	3. Chapter 3: Disaster

Disclaimer: See chapter one.  
  
Number 1: *screaming* ANY PERSON THAT READS ANY OF THE STORIES IN THE TEENS NEXT DOOR SERIES SHOULD REALLY REVIEW PLEASE!!! YOU'RE GOING TO MAKE THE AUTHOR MAD IF YOU DON'T REVIEW!!!  
  
Well said, Number 1. Anyway, she's right! If you've read my bio, you know that I love reviews. Does that bubble up anything in your mind?  
  
Random audience member: Review the story?  
  
Yes! You get one of those bags of sugar I was talking about in the last chapter. Now, if we're all clear on the reviews, on with the story!  
  
~*Chapter 3*~  
  
Numbah 3 happily skipped through the mall accompanied by Number 2. A few days had passed, and it was now January 25, only four days left until Number 3's birthday. Each of the KND and TND had a special task to perform so that the party could be all it was meant to be. They each had to get a present, obviously. Numbah 5 and Number 4 were in charge of decorations. Numbah 2 and Number 5 had to get the entertainment. Numbah 4 and Numbah 1 took care of food. Since Number 1 had taken care of the cake, she made sure that Number 3 had no clue about what was going on. Oh yeah, the cake. Numbah 3 called the bakery just like Number 1 instructed and got a cake organized. She was completely oblivious to Number 1's plan. What was Number 1's plan exactly? That was for her to know and the team to find out and, hopefully, never know it was hers.  
  
Number 2 and Numbah 3 stopped in front of a toy store.  
  
"What types of things do teenage boys like?" Numbah 3 asked, scratching her head.  
  
"That's hard to say," Number 2 replied. "Number 3 can be really unpredictable about what he likes. Two days ago, he was playing football in his backyard, and then he went and joined the science club at school!"  
  
"Freaky!" Numbah 3 exclaimed, cringing back.  
  
"I know. That's why it's always hard to pick out a present for him."  
  
"Is that what the, um, 'growing up' is?"  
  
"Well, yeah, but don't say that around him," Number 2 suggested. "It's bad enough he and Number 1 are the oldest of our team. Number 1'll be fourteen in February. So, since they're the oldest, they're really prone to mood swings."  
  
"What are those?"  
  
"I'll tell you when you're twelve."  
  
Numbah 3 shrugged and the two operatives skipped the toy store and walked across the side of the mall to the video game store. They walked inside and started looking at all the games lining the walls. Number 2 looked in the PlayStation 2 section while Numbah 3 skipped to the Gamecube section.  
  
Back at the TND tree house, Number 1 stayed buried under the covers of her bed. Her clock read 4:21 in the afternoon. She knew she had homework to do, a lot of it. Most of it was studying for mid-terms coming up a little later in February. Right now, she was just feeling her guilty conscience eating away at her soul. She knew what she had done. She had summoned one to destroy something so dear to her. She couldn't change or fix that, though she was having qualms about what she had done.  
  
"I did the right thing, right?" she asked herself. "I mean, something's wrong in a place of time and space. The party's the problem, right?"  
  
Questions with no answers buzzed in Number 1's head, making her brain hurt. Tiny tears fell down her pale cheeks. What she had done was wrong. Nothing could make it right. She knew, no matter how much she cried, that she couldn't change anything. She could do nothing to change anything. Number 3's party was on Sunday, January 29, and the cake was all set. It was too late to cancel, too. Number 1 sighed. It was so hard to be a teenager.  
  
Number 1 sat up on her bed letting the sheets fall off her onto the mattress.  
  
"Get a hold of yourself, Number1. You've ruined this and now you have to live with it. No amount of crying is going to change the horrible thing you did. Stop acting like an idiot."  
  
The teenage girl went to do her homework.  
  
Downstairs in the study room, Number 1 was having a hard time focusing on her notes. Her mind was troubled with two things. One, she hired a Teens Next Door villain to destroy one that meant so much to her, and two, she had cursed at one of her best friends. She knew she shouldn't have said what she said to Number 8. She just sort of did.  
  
"Holy crud. Nothing makes sense anymore!" she shouted, pounding her fists on the table. "I hate growing up! I hate being a teenager! I hate this stupid life!"  
  
There was nothing else for Number 1 to say. She slammed her forehead down on her math notes and sobbed.  
  
She just sobbed.  
  
A few days passed. The calendar read January 29, Number 3's birthday. Up in his room, Number 3 sat in a corner of his wrestling ring, thinking about the day. He knew what was going to happen. Everyone was going to be all nice to him so that he wouldn't feel bad about getting older. He looked to his clock sitting on his nightstand. It read 10:53 in the morning. Number 3 sighed and stood up. He rubbed his eyes and walked out of his ring and towards his door.  
  
He touched the knob, but he didn't open the door. Someone else did, and that let Number 3 go splat against the wall.  
  
"GOOD MORNING, NUMBER 3!!!" Numbah 3 cheered. She stopped and scanned the room. "Number 3?"  
  
"Behind the door."  
  
"Oh, ha ha! I knew that!"  
  
Numbah 3 walked inside the room and moved the door so that Number 3 could step out and breathe without the door in his way.  
  
"So?"  
  
"So what?"  
  
"Happy birthday!" Numbah 3 squealed.  
  
"Um, yeah. Happy birthday to me." Number 3 gave in and sighed.  
  
"What time were you born, Number 3?"  
  
"Oh, God, I don't know!" Number 3 snapped.  
  
"Okay! Just asking!" Numbah 3 exclaimed, smiling sweetly. There was an extremely long pause.  
  
"Psst! Hey!" Number 4 whispered from outside in the hallway.  
  
"Hi, Number 4!" Numbah 3 greeted. "Did you want to wish Number 3 a happy birthday, too?"  
  
"Um, yes, but remember?" Number 4 hinted.  
  
"Oh yeah!" Numbah 3 realized. She turned and looked at Number 3. "Number 4 says that you need to go to the candy store."  
  
"But we were there just last week."  
  
"Number 1 had one of those chocolate craving things."  
  
"Oh, I get it. Alright, I've got money. Be back soon."  
  
Number 3 left the tree house and started walking down the street. In the hallway, Number 4 scowled at Numbah 3.  
  
"Remind me to never hire you to get someone out of the tree house ever again," she ordered.  
  
"Could you remind me to remind you?"  
  
Number 4 shook her head and left to blow up some balloons.  
  
While Number 3 was walking down the street, a strange thought raged in his head.  
  
Flashback  
  
"Wait, Guys!" Number 1 shouted, flailing her flashlight in the air. "You haven't even heard the next part of the legend yet!"  
  
"Number 1, that legend is totally false," Number 5 snapped. "Now, I think we'll be able to fix this and get a little bit of electricity back if we just go into the baseme-"  
  
"SIT!!!" Yes, this is the old, very bad Number 1 we're talking about. The rest of the TND obeyed, knowing that if they didn't, Number 1 would blow a circuit.  
  
"Anyway," Number 1 continued, "the boy walked back to his little home in his village after his meeting with the harsh ruler. He was completely unaware of what was going to happen. 'It's just a lie," he told himself. 'There's no way a curse could be upon me.' Oh, God was he wrong! That night, something happened. No one's really sure what it was. It was just pure evil. It dove into the boy's body, leaving him sweating and breathing hard throughout the rest of the night."  
  
"The next morning, the boy sat down to breakfast. He was completely silent. His parents and his younger sisters noticed this, and they were very worried. He just didn't seem to be his bright, cheery, charming self. 'Are you okay?' the mother asked. 'Your birthday's today, you know.' It was a special birthday, too. The boy turned fourteen."  
  
"Out in the village, everybody else noticed the boy and his little attitude problem he was having that day. They all just thought it was bad luck, but then the mood lasted for a few days, then a few weeks, then a few months, and then a few years. The harsh ruler smiled down at the monster she created. Without any warning, she stole him away from the earth and brought him to her home planet. There, the boy was forced to forever be a slave to the harsh ruler along side the young woman she had kidnapped. 'Why did you bring me here?' he asked stubbornly. 'You lost your gift of charm at the age of fourteen!' the leader exclaimed. 'May all of your descendents be cursed the same!'"  
  
"Number 1," Number 2 began, "what does a legend like that have to do with a tree house losing power?"  
  
"I don't know," Number 1 explained. "Sometimes I just got to talk."  
  
End Flashback  
  
Number 3 didn't notice the street lamp he crashed into.  
  
Back at the tree house, the entire place looked absolutely gorgeous. It was covered in streamers flying everywhere. The balloons were filled and bobbing in the gentle wind. The backyard was bathed in bright sunlight as the TND and KND ran all over the place putting on some last minute touch- ups. A giant portable stereo sat on one side of the yard with a dance floor placed on the grass. Chips, pretzels, cheese doodles, and caffeine-rich soda lined the table covered in a green tablecloth. A giant chocolate cake with bright pink frosting sat in the middle, looking totally innocent. The only problem was that it wasn't, it really wasn't.  
  
"Is everything ready?" Numbah 1 asked. "Decorations?"  
  
"Perfectly in place, Numbah 1." Numbah 5 replied.  
  
"Entertainment?"  
  
"Up, running, and fully functional," Numbah 2 announced.  
  
"Food?"  
  
"Perfectly laid out, Numbah 1," Numbah 4 confirmed.  
  
"Cake?"  
  
"All set!" Numbah 3 cried, saluting her leader.  
  
"Alright team," Numbah 1 said, "it's Number 3's fourteenth birthday. Let's make it the best one he'll ever have in his entire adolescent life!"  
  
The KND and TND cheered. That is, all but Number 1. She sat on the sidewalk, watching for Number 3. She stared down at the cement and started picking at a loose nylon thread from her black tights. She couldn't help but sulk at all of this. Eventually, the team would find out about what she did.  
  
Number 1's head jolted up when she her acute hearing picked up a tiny sound.  
  
"He's coming!"  
  
Everybody ran all over the place, looking for a good hiding spot. Numbah 2, Numbah 5, and Number 4 hid behind the giant stereo. Numbah 4, Number 2, and Numbah 1 squished themselves underneath the table. Number 5 stood behind giant balloon displays. Numbah 3 crouched behind the table. Number 1 sighed and walked down the street to greet Number 3.  
  
"Hey," she called.  
  
"Hi," Number 3 said back, "I got the chocolate you and Number 4 wanted me to get."  
  
"Neat, let's go eat it."  
  
Number 1 led Number 3 towards the backyard. She opened up the back fence and let him walk in first.  
  
"SURPRISE!!!" everybody shouted, jumping from their hiding spots, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NUMBER 3!!!"  
  
About a million things passed through Number 3's mind, but they went in through one ear and out the other. For the longest moment in history, he was silent. The KND were silent. The TND were silent. No breath was heard. No heartbeats were heard. Nobody moved. The world stood still.  
  
"Oh, my," Number 3 whispered.  
  
"Do you like it?" Numbah 3 asked. "I thought it would be a great idea to throw you a surprise birthday party!"  
  
"Wrong subject," Numbah 1 mumbled.  
  
Number 3 dropped his bag of candy. Chocolates scrambled all over the lawn. Number 3 shook; his eyes twitched. He ran inside the tree house, not wanting anything more to do with the world.  
  
"What's his problem?" Number 4 asked. "It's not like Number 86 was here or something."  
  
"That would have made the situation the cruddiest little thing on the planet," Number 5 announced.  
  
"This really sucks," Number 2 agreed.  
  
Number 1 burst into tears. Numbah 3 could feel her anger rising inside of her, eliminating all happy and cheery things about her.  
  
"I work my butt off for a week and this is how I get repaid?!" she screamed, and she stormed off in search of her teenage counterpart.  
  
Numbah 3 slammed open the door to Number 3's room of the tree house.  
  
"DANIEL TRIPLETS!!!" she shouted. Number 3 brought his head up from his pillow and stared her in the eyes.  
  
"How'd you know my full name?" he asked.  
  
"I wanted to make you happy with a party! I thought all teenagers loved parties!"  
  
"You didn't answer my other question."  
  
"I don't care! I want you to tell me why you hated this party!" Numbah 3 commanded.  
  
"I can't," Number 3 explained.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I just can't!"  
  
"Tell me!"  
  
"There is no way in a million years that I can tell you what's been bugging me!" Number 3 screamed, putting up a fight. He walked straight up to Numbah 3, making her cower like a tiny kitten. "You don't understand! Nobody understands! Even if I told you and explained it the best I could, you still wouldn't understand!"  
  
"Try me."  
  
"Go to hell!" Number 3 shouted, getting extremely angry. He grabbed Numbah 3 by her shirt collar and tossed her to the other side of the room into a pile of wood. After a few moments of silence, Numbah 3 emerged, tears filling her eyes. Number 3, feeling something of satisfaction, walked over to the door and went to open it. Before he could, he heard something. It was a tune like one you'd hear at an old carnival. It confused Number 3, but then the strange tune turned into depressing music. Numbah 3 started to sing to it.  
  
--Now, don't just walk away pretending everything's okay and you don't care about me. And I know it's just no use when all your lies become your truths and I don't care.--  
  
--Could you look me in the eye and tell me that you're happy now? Would you tell it to my face or have I been erased? Are you happy now? Are you happy now?--  
  
--You took all there was to take and left me with an empty plate, and you don't care about it. And I've given up this game and leaving you with all the blame 'cause I don't care.--  
  
--Could you look me in the eye and tell me that you're happy now? Would you tell it to my face or have I been erased? Are you happy now? Are you happy now?--  
  
Numbah 3 walked over to Number 3 and stared him in the eyes.  
  
--Do you really have everything you want? You can never give somethin' you ain't got! You can't run away from yourself. Could you look me in the eye and tell me that you're happy now?--  
  
Numbah 3 turned for a second. When she faced Number 3 again, her eyes were flaming (like the way they did in LICE).  
  
--Come on. Tell it to my face or have I been replaced? Are you happy now? Are you happy now? Would you look me in the eye? Could you look me in the eye? I've had all that I can take, I'm not about to break. Are you happy now? Are you happy now?--  
  
Numbah 3 stopped singing. She and her counterpart stared at each other. They were both defeated.  
  
"Kuki Sanban," Number 3 began, "shut up."  
  
Number 3 opened the door and walked out of his room. He slammed it shut behind him, leaving Numbah 3 to cry in the middle of the floor. She was covered in splinters and scratches, but the pain she felt in her soul hurt way worse.  
  
She forgot about that when she heard something explode and Number 3 scream.  
  
~*End of Chapter Three*~ 


	4. Chapter 4: Numbah 3 Takes Charge!

Disclaimer: See chapter one.  
  
Alright, who out there is not reviewing? Please review if you read the story. Now, I'm not just asking. I'm begging! My writing life is so boring without second opinions! Okay, now that I've gotten that out of my system, I'll continue with the story.  
  
~*Chapter 4*~  
  
Numbah 3 stood, listening to the deafening silence that filled the hallways. She had heard something explode and Number 3 scream. The splinters and scratches in her skin numbed her all the way down to her toes, making her head ache. She took a step forward. The pain sizzled up through her spine, and she felt dizzy. She took another one. The pain was worse. She didn't know what was hurting her more: the splinters and scratches, her hurt feelings, or the haunting silence bouncing throughout the tree house. She looked out the window. The beautiful winter day had now turned into a harsh, cloudy blizzard. Numbah 3 didn't know what to do. She heard a cry for help. She was hurt all over. Something she had worked so hard on was ruined. Nothing made sense. There was nothing else for her to do. She dropped to her knees and wept.  
  
She sat in the middle of the floor and cried herself to sleep.  
  
"Wake up, sweetness," somebody said gently. "It's okay."  
  
Numbah 3's eyes fluttered open. She found herself looking in the face of her mother. She slowly rolled her head from side to side to get the juices flowing in her brain again. Her head felt too heavy for her shoulders.  
  
"Mama?" she asked.  
  
"Yes," Mrs. Sanban replied. "Are you alright, dear?"  
  
"Birthday party," Numbah 3 mumbled, "balloons, music, caffeine-rich soda,"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Dan, party, mad,"  
  
"You're not making any sense."  
  
Numbah 3 shook her head wildly and jumped up.  
  
"Where's Dan?" she exploded, frantic.  
  
"He must have gone home," Mrs. Sanban reasoned, "because he's not here. You've been sleeping for a long time. It's a good thing Nigel and the rest of your friends found you. You look so hurt!"  
  
"Uh, I was in a fight," Numbah 3 whispered.  
  
"A fight?" Mrs. Sanban repeated. "With who?"  
  
"Nobody,"  
  
"Kuki, dear, tell me."  
  
"It was no one! Seriously! Now, I have to go for something important with my friends," Numbah 3 pouted. She turned and ran out of her house, all the way to Number 1's house and up into the tree house.  
  
Inside the tree house, nobody was looking too happy, especially Number 1. Not only had she caused all this, but there was nothing anybody could do to prevent the inevitable from happening. Number 1 sank low into her beanbag chair with her arms crossed and her face stained with tears. She couldn't stop crying no matter what.  
  
{I did it,} she thought. {He's gone.}  
  
"Number 1?"  
  
The leader of the TND looked up her counterpart staring her in the eyes above his sunglasses.  
  
"You okay?" he asked. "You look more bummed than usual."  
  
Number 1 didn't reply. She turned her head so that she wasn't looking at her kid friend.  
  
"Fine," Numbah 1 said simply, "I just wanted to cheer you up."  
  
Number 1 looked up with a jolt at her KND counterpart. She shut her eyes tightly and squirmed in her seat until it happened.  
  
She jumped up from her seat, big tears running down her face.  
  
"That's it! I can't take it anymore!" she shouted. "It's just not fair! This whole thing is my fault! It's my fault Number 3 is where he is!"  
  
"What are you talking about?" Numbah 5 asked.  
  
"Calm down!" Number 4 ordered.  
  
"Calm down?" Number 1 repeated. "How am I supposed to calm down? All this is my fault!"  
  
"Why?" Numbah 2 questioned.  
  
"You idiots!" Number 1 screamed. "I did it! I admit it! I set up the whole thing with the cake! I fixed it up!"  
  
"Yeah, you did," Number 5 said matter-of-factly.  
  
"Not like that!" Number 1 yelled. "I told Numbah 3 to phone a certain bakery at a certain time after I set up a gig with Grandma Stuffums!"  
  
The TND and KND gasped. They couldn't believe it. Their leader turned on Number 3, Daniel Triplets, the strongest member of the Teens Next Door.  
  
At that moment, Numbah 3 came storming into the tree house.  
  
"What I miss?"  
  
More tears ran down Number 1's cheeks. She buried her face in her palms and ran up the stairs of the tree house to her room.  
  
"Okay, now I really need to know what I missed."  
  
"Numbah 3, I don't know how to tell you this," Numbah 1 began, "but Number 3's been kidnapped."  
  
"It was Number 1's fault," Numbah 4 added.  
  
"What?" Numbah 3 cringed back in surprise. "Tell me what happened!"  
  
"Yesterday,"  
  
"What do you mean 'yesterday'?" Numbah 3 snapped to Numbah 4.  
  
"You were sleeping," Numbah 1 announced, "and you eventually blacked out. The team and I found you; we took you back to your house in the TND G.R.A.B.B.E.R."  
  
"Well, okay," Numbah 3 rubbed the back of her head. "Continue, please!"  
  
"As I was saying," Numbah 4 began, "yesterday, after the little party disaster, we heard you and Number 3 fight. He left your room. The cake exploded and Liver and Onions popped out!"  
  
"They were hiding in there," Number 2 added. "Yes, they're adorable, but they were so mean and scary! They grabbed Number 3! He screamed and they took him away."  
  
"We tried to track him down," Numbah 5 chimed in, "but Numbah 5 says that they were already long gone."  
  
"So, Number 1 tricked me with the cake?" Numbah 3 asked.  
  
"Well, um," Numbah 1 fumbled with his words, "yes."  
  
Everybody stood in the silence. The moment was long. Blank stares looked at one another.  
  
A voice came and ruined the moment.  
  
"Nigel!" Lizzie called from the front yard. "Come out! You promised me a date the other day!"  
  
Numbah 1 sighed heavily and went to the window nearest to Lizzie. He activated his rocket shoes and flew down to the yard to meet her.  
  
"Look, Lizzie," he began, "this is a really bad time."  
  
"Is this another one of those stupid Kids Next Door missions?" Lizzie asked. "You never come to see me anymore! All you do is go out playing with your horrible friends and never paying any attention to me!"  
  
"Lizzie, this time, it's serious. One of our Teens Next Door has been kidnapped!"  
  
"So? You're not a Teen Next Door."  
  
"The Teens Next Door are our friends, Lizzie! We try to help each other out as much as we can!"  
  
"I thought you guys were against teenagers." Lizzie snapped, crossing her arms.  
  
"These are different!" Numbah 1 explained.  
  
"Fine, Nigel!" Lizzie gave in. "But next week, I want a date from you! No excuses!"  
  
"Right,"  
  
Lizzie walked away from the tree house. Numbah 1 sighed long and hard. He reactivated his rocket shoes and flew up back into the tree house. He looked at his team and sighed long and hard.  
  
"Take my advice, Boys: never get a girlfriend."  
  
"Especially when that girlfriend is Lizzie!" Numbah 4 announced.  
  
"I wonder if she'll stay that way her whole life," Number 2 thought aloud, "and if she does, I wonder who she'll marry."  
  
"With my luck, it'll be me," Numbah 1 sighed, "but enough of that. We need to find a way to get Number 3 back!"  
  
"And make Number 1 pay for what she did," Numbah 5 added.  
  
Speaking of Number 3, he wasn't so sure where he was when he woke up. He felt sick, extremely sick. He held his head in the palm of his hands.  
  
"What happened?" he mumbled. "I feel so sick."  
  
Number 3 rubbed his head. The room he was in was light. There was one door, no windows, and tons of food all over the floor. He looked to a corner of the room to see a wastebasket. He got up and walked over to it. He took a tiny peek inside.  
  
"Gross!" he shouted. "Who threw up?"  
  
"You!"  
  
Number 3 turned around with a jolt to see Liver and Onions standing next to the single door of the room. Liver smirked. Onions laughed.  
  
"You were throwing up all of last night!" Liver yelled, laughing harder. "Apparently you don't have such a great appetite for Granny's food."  
  
"I ate some of that disgusting food in the middle of the floor here?" Number 3 asked in disbelief.  
  
"You were forced to," Onions explained, "and it was funny to watch you try to resist!"  
  
"So that's where you get your cheap laughs!"  
  
"Uh-huh!"  
  
Liver and Onions cracked up as they left the room. Number 3 had a mix of anger and embarrassment bubbling through him. He sat back down in the middle of the floor and held his head in his hands. That didn't last long.  
  
He jumped up and threw up in the wastebasket.  
  
That night, at the TND tree house base, things were a little worse than usual. Number 1 went to bed at 6:00 that night. That was a little too early even though it was a school night. When it was his bedtime, Numbah 1 gently walked up the stairs and slowly got into his sleeping bag just in his day clothes and shoes. He set his sunglasses down next to him, but couldn't sleep until about one o'clock A.M. Numbah 2 slept on the biggest stuffed animal in Number 2's room like he usually did. For once, he took his flight cap and goggles off; he set them next to Number 2's glasses. Numbah 4 slept on the rug underneath and quilt in Number 4's room as per usual. Numbah 5 took the couch while Number 5 snuggled underneath the sheets in his little cockpit like he usually did. The room with a giant three painted on the door stayed empty. Numbah 3 went home to sleep that night.  
  
Numbah 3 was up late thinking about how the day had gone. She had lost her counterpart, the TND leader had totally lost it, and she lost everything that made her who she was. She wasn't all that happy or sweet anymore. She was too busy thinking. She looked to the clock on her nightstand that read 2:27 in the morning. She sighed.  
  
It must've been loud because there was a knock on her door.  
  
"Kuki!" somebody called.  
  
"Go away, Mushi!" Numbah 3 called back, tugging her sheets over her head. "Shouldn't you be sleeping anyway?"  
  
"Shouldn't you?"  
  
"I hate it when she does that," Numbah 3 mumbled to herself. "Alright, come in."  
  
Mushi creaked the door open and peeked inside the room.  
  
"Mama said you got in a fight."  
  
"It wasn't a fight, Mushi! It was just a little argument!"  
  
"You need a hug."  
  
Mushi climbed up on Numbah 3 bed and hugged her big sister the best she could. Before Numbah 3 knew it, Mushi had fallen asleep against her. For one moment in the entire day, Numbah 3 smiled and tucked Mushi under the covers of her bed.  
  
"Get some sleep," she whispered, and she kissed her on the head. "Big Sister's going on a search and rescue mission."  
  
~*End of Chapter Four*~ 


	5. Chapter 5: The Third Battle

Disclaimer: See chapter one.  
  
As a writer at fanfiction.net, I have one request: reviews. I think I've made myself clear.  
  
~*Chapter 5*~  
  
Numbah 3 slowly changed out of her nightgown and into her green sweater and black pants. She put her green socks and black and white sneakers on. She tied the laces up and ran a brush through her hair. Before she left her room, she tucked Mushi under the covers of her bed. She grabbed a mustard gun from under her bed and opened up the window out of her room. She crawled out and climbed down the wall of her house. She reached the bottom and ran down the streets of the neighborhood. As she ran, something came to mind.  
  
"I feel like I know this from somewhere," she huffed and she ran down the sidewalk. "Have I heard about this, or has someone else escaped like this before?"  
  
Numbah 3 didn't think about that too much. Instead, she ran over to the Teens Next Door Tree House Headquarters. Even though she was a Kid Next Door, she still knew the access code to get inside the weapons base.  
  
"Access code, please," the computer said.  
  
"DTFDTL," Numbah 3 replied.  
  
The computer accepted the code and allowed Numbah 3 in. Once inside, she grabbed a flashlight off a desk and shined it all over the room. There were soda pop lasers, bubblegum guns, chili pepper heat blasters, and icy crusher rifles all over the floor. The S.P.L.A.N.K.E.R. sat in a corner of the room as well as the T.H.U.M.P.E.R.  
  
"Nothing here can help me get Number 3 back!" Numbah 3 cried. She turned and shined the light on something behind her. There stood a huge flight machine. "I take that back." Numbah 3 hopped into the machine.  
  
-Computer Screen-  
  
Teens Next Door: G.R.A.B.B.E.R.  
  
Giant  
  
Robotic  
  
Arm  
  
Badly  
  
Beats  
  
Enemies  
  
Roughly  
  
-End Computer Screen-  
  
Numbah 3 typed a bunch of confusing calculations into the computer of the ship. She had never driven this flight machine before. In fact, she had never driven any of the Teens Next Door or Kids Next Door 2 X 4 Technology Flight Weapons. It couldn't be that hard, right? Numbah 2 and Number 5 had driven these machines so many times, and it looked so easy. Numbah 3 grabbed the controls of the ship and pulled them up, thinking that meant altitude.  
  
CRASH!!!  
  
The ship plowed itself into the ground.  
  
"Maybe I should read the instruction manual first."  
  
Meanwhile, all was not right with Number 3. He was still feeling sick to his stomach and hated it. He didn't understand this enemy's goal. In the past two battles, once things were explained, the reason for the enemy hatching some sort of plan was apparent. The Delightful Teens from Down the Lane wanted to get rid of the TND once and for all. Just like when the Delightful Children from Down the Lane did it, the Delightful Teens turned the leader of the TND into an adult. Later, the Common Cold had taken Number 2 in an attempt to make her his queen. Grandma Stuffums, however, didn't seem to have some sort of plan.  
  
"She's just using me to get a cheap laugh!" Number 3 cried, pounding his fists into the floor. "I just don't understand her goal. Is this just a step in a whole process she's figured out for me?"  
  
Number 3 stopped pounding his fists to the floor. He lay down on it and stared up to the ceiling of the white room he was in. He hugged himself as tears fell down his face.  
  
Flashback  
  
"Let me go! Give me back control of my life, and let me become the individual boy I once was!"  
  
"Never! You're going to be a slave for me and like it!"  
  
The harsh ruler flashed a hand out in front of her and used an invisible energy to twist her new slave's neck. The poor boy fell back and writhed in the hot pain. His body shook as life was taken away from him.  
  
"One day, I shall live again," he announced.  
  
End Flashback  
  
Number 3 didn't have to ask himself why this all felt so familiar. This had happened before.  
  
Back at the tree house, Numbah 3 was reading the pages of the instruction manual to the Teens Next Door G.R.A.B.B.E.R. She was about halfway through when she saw a light out of the corner of her eye. She looked towards a window and saw a figure walking around inside a room in the tree house. Numbah 3 panicked for a second and instinct took over. She hid underneath the seat of the machine.  
  
"Hello? Is anybody out there?" Numbah 5 asked, soda pop laser in hand. She shined a flashlight across the room and nervously looked at everything all still and silent. "Numbah 5 thinks she's not alone."  
  
"Numbah 5!" Numbah 3 exclaimed. "Is that you?"  
  
Numbah 3 jumped up from her hiding spot, accidentally tripping over a loose wire on the floor of the machine. Numbah 5 shined the light inside the flight machine and sighed with relief when she saw her fellow operative.  
  
"Numbah 3, what are you doing in the Teens Next Door G.R.A.B.B.E.R.?" she asked. "You know how Number 1 freaks when somebody touches her technology. Oh, well, actually, she might not be freaking for much longer."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Number 4 spazzed when she found out that Number 1 betrayed a member of the Teens Next Door. Number 86 will be visiting us tomorrow."  
  
"No! They're going to decommission Number 1? Does she know?"  
  
"Number 1 doesn't know yet. The TND were just talking about it in their hang out room. I was listening in on their conversation when I saw you out here." Numbah 5 sighed. "It's looking like they might want to get rid of her."  
  
"They can't do that!" Numbah 3 argued. "Number 1 isn't even fourteen, let alone old enough to be decommissioned!"  
  
"Go figure! We don't know Number 86. For all we know, she could be worse than our Numbah 86. Actually, we know nothing about her! We don't even know if this is a girl we're talking about!"  
  
"Wow, a mystery operative," Numbah 3 whispered. "Well, I guess I'm settled. I better get going."  
  
"Where are you going?"  
  
"To find Number 3."  
  
"Alone?"  
  
"Uh-huh."  
  
"You're crazy!" Numbah 5 accused. "If you're going on a search and rescue mission, then I'm coming with you!"  
  
Numbah 5 threw off her bathrobe to reveal her day clothes and hopped into the G.R.A.B.B.E.R. with Numbah 3. The two girls flew off in search of the TND tough guy.  
  
"Do we have any leads to where Number 3 might be?" Numbah 5 asked.  
  
"No," Numbah 3 replied nervously, "I just sort of wanted to find him, but I guess I didn't think about geographically challenged part."  
  
Numbah 5 sighed heavily and looked out the window at the passing world. She looked to the back seat of the G.R.A.B.B.E.R., and her eyes grew wide.  
  
"Oh, my God!" she screamed. "Who are you?"  
  
"Calm down! It's me, Number 8 of the Teens Next Door!"  
  
"Number 8?" Numbah 3 turned around and looked at the teenage operative. She put her hands over her mouth in surprise. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"HOLD ONTO THE CONTROLS!!!" Number 8 shouted, grabbing hold of the steering stick. "Are you insane? If there's anything you should not do when flying a piece of 2 X 4 technology, it's let go of the controls!"  
  
"Sorry," Numbah 3 mumbled.  
  
"You should be," Number 8 scolded. "Now, we need to go get Number 3 back!"  
  
"How do you know about Number 3 going missing?" Numbah 5 asked.  
  
"Uh, it's just that, um, I sort of li-"  
  
"Never mind. Let's just go."  
  
An hour later, the three operatives came upon a strange building on an uncharted island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Numbah 5 stayed inside the G.R.A.B.B.E.R. while Numbah 3 and Number 8 slid down two ropes to the roof of the building. Number 8 used a laser to eat through the roof, and the two operatives jumped down into a single hallway.  
  
"This is scary," Numbah 3 whispered. "I've only been on one solo mission before."  
  
"This is sort of a trio mission," Number 8 reasoned. "Numbah 5 is making sure we're okay from the ship, and I'm with you here. We'll be okay. You have my word as captain of my school's tennis team, and as Number 8 of the Teens Next Door."  
  
Numbah 3 smiled and the two girls continued down the hallways in an attempt to find any clues that might lead them to where Number 3 was. That didn't take long. Number 8 opened up the last door on the right side of the hall.  
  
"Number 3!" she shouted. She and Numbah 3 ran into the room. Number 3 was on the floor scrunched up into a little ball in pain. He looked up to his fellow operatives. His face was pale green with sickness.  
  
"You guys have to get out of here," he said, "or else Liver and Onions will capture you guys for Granny, too."  
  
"We're not going to get captured because we're getting you out of here!" Number 8 announced. She and Numbah 3 picked Number 3 up and started running out into the halls to find where Numbah 5 was hovering overhead. No sooner had they tried to leave, none other than Liver and Onions stopped them.  
  
"Were do you Kiddies Next Door think you're going?" Liver asked. "You're not taking Granny's grandson!"  
  
"So that's what she wanted to do with him!" Numbah 3 announced.  
  
"And Number 3 and I are not kids," Number 8 said matter-of-factly.  
  
"No matter!" Onions said together. "We're still going to beat you!"  
  
"We'll see about that!" Number 8 challenged as she took out a walkie- talkie. "Numbah 5, we have the operative. Grab us!"  
  
"You got it!"  
  
Numbah 5 flew overhead in the G.R.A.B.B.E.R. with a giant claw coming down. She picked her three fellow operatives up and dropped them safely inside.  
  
She dropped them literally.  
  
"Numbah 5, work on the landing of this thing," Number 8 ordered, rubbing her sore bottom.  
  
"It's not my fault! If you should complain to anyone, it should be Numbah 2 or Number 5!"  
  
"Whatever! Just get us out of here!"  
  
Before Numbah 5 could get anyone away from the building, there was a giant tug on the grabbing claw. The TND and KND looked down to see Grandma Stuffums hanging onto the claw.  
  
"Let go!" Numbah 3 shouted.  
  
"Never! I need my grandson in order to test out my latest recipes!" Granny shouted back. She took out her giant spoon and gave it a swoop. Spinach climbed up the rope attached to the claw and into the ship.  
  
"Where's Number 1 when you need her?" Number 3 asked. "She loves spinach!"  
  
"Remind me to call Number 1 a freak as soon as we get home," Numbah 3 requested. She took out her mustard gun and fired at the walking vegetables. A few of them fell back, but others were able to climb into the ship.  
  
"Numbah 5 wishes that Numbah 2 was here to eat," Numbah 5 said before a hunk of living spinach forced itself down her throat. The ship rocked back and forth in the air with uneasiness due to the load of people.  
  
"We've got to get this mutant food off the ship before we crash!" Number 8 shouted. "That could happen, you know!"  
  
The rest of the team agreed. Numbah 5 tried her hardest to keep the ship under control. It was a little hard with disgusting spinach trying to jump into her mouth. Number 3 was the only one that wasn't being attacked by the food. He was already sick anyway. He looked at the living food attacking the team. Liver and Onions were now in the ship. Grandma Stuffums was climbing up the ropes.  
  
{If I can get her to stop hanging onto the ship,} he thought, {then maybe we can fly back home. We wouldn't have to worry since we could probably just chop up the spinach and bring it back for Numbah 2 and Number 1.}  
  
Number 3 didn't have time to think about the situation. Despite the pain in his stomach, he stood up and walked over to the controls for the grabbing claw of the ship. After experimenting with a few of the buttons, he found one that finally did something he wanted. He pressed a twisted button, and the grabbing claw starting flailing in all directions.  
  
"What are you doing to me?" Granny shouted. "You're my little grandson!"  
  
"Lady, I'm not related to you!" Number 3 snapped. He pressed the twisted button again, and Granny flew off the rope. She fell fast along with Liver and Onions right into the Atlantic Ocean.  
  
"And what should we do with them?" Number 8 asked, pointing towards the few remaining pieces of spinach.  
  
"Number 1 and Numbah 2 are going to eat like kings tonight," Numbah 5 announced as she flew the ship home.  
  
Back at the tree house, everyone was in a panic. They had finally realized that a few of their operatives were missing.  
  
"Calm down, everyone!" Numbah 1 commanded. "I'm sure that Numbah 5 and Numbah 3 are okay!"  
  
"But what if they've been kidnapped by Liver and Onions, too?" Number 2 shrieked. "I don't want to lose my friends!"  
  
"Or what if the Delightful Dorks have them?" Numbah 4 suggested.  
  
Making perfect time, the main door to the tree house swung open and there stood the missing operatives.  
  
"Numbah 3! 5!" Number 4 shouted running towards her other team members.  
  
"Number 3! Number 8!" Numbah 1 chimed in. The rest of the team ran over to greet their operatives. "What happened to you guys? Where have you been all night? Numbah 3, Mushi was worried sick about you!"  
  
Suddenly, something sounded like it was landing on the property. The reunited KND and TND looked out the window to see two figures walking out of a ship.  
  
"Where's the little troublemaker?" Numbah 86 screamed.  
  
"Oh yeah," Numbah 5 looked towards Number 1 and sighed, "Number 1, you're getting a visit from the two 86s."  
  
"No," Number 1 whispered. "I'm getting decommissioned???"  
  
"Nobody calls Numbah 86 without a reason!"  
  
"I'm afraid it's true, Number 1," Number 86 said, "but we'll be giving you a trial first."  
  
~*End of Chapter Five*~ 


	6. Chapter 6: Saved by an Adult

Disclaimer: See chapter one.  
  
Cool! I got some reviews! After all my begging and pleading, I'm finally getting what I asked for! Yay! Anyway, as I reply to a review I got, faeriegrotto, in my reviews, I like it when people say 'it's good' or 'it's bad', but I also like a reason. In addition, I know I shouldn't, but I sort of like a sugar-coated review every now and then. They make me all squealing! People giving me ideas for what should happen next is nice, but I sort of have this whole thing planned out. I even know what the finale for this whole series is! (I'll let you know, there's six stories in the series.) I hope that answers your review. Now then, on with the story!  
  
~*Chapter 6*~  
  
Number 1 stood with ropes tied around her hands behind her. She stood before the all-powerful Number 86 and the all-bossy Numbah 86. She didn't think this day would come so soon. She had only been commissioned into the Teens Next Door when she turned thirteen last year and was decommissioned out of the Kids Next Door. She had a gloomy look on her face. Most of the KND and TND did, too. Number 4 stood with her arms crossed and an angry look on her face. Number 2 stood in the shadows of a nearby tree, not wishing to be part of such a hard decommissioning ceremony. Numbah 86 was feeling a mix of satisfaction and guilt. Number 1 was a girl, and yet she had done something really stupid. This didn't seem right. Numbah 1 was upset. He let his glasses slide down the tip of his nose before pushing them back onto his face. Number 1 stood in silence. She brought her head down.  
  
"Number 1," Number 86 began, "do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth in this court of Teens Next Door law?"  
  
"Yes," Number 1 replied miserably, kneeling before the head of decommissioning.  
  
"Then let the trial begin."  
  
Number 1 stood once again and stared into the eyes of Number 86. She was a girl who was known as Alex to adults. She wore a dark green jacket over a white cami. She had on dark red sweatpants to go with her black basketball shoes. She had a little, fuzzy dark green hat that covered most of her brown hair back in a ponytail. Even though Number 86 was head of decommissioning, she didn't really like her position. She didn't want to see friends of hers go. She had seen a lot of eighteen-year-olds in the past, feeling horrible now that they were legal adults. She hated seeing the glum looks on their faces as their numbers were taken from them. To her, it was an awful feeling.  
  
"Number 1, you have been accused of being a turncoat and traitor to the Teens Next Door by siding with an enemy. What do you have to say for yourself?"  
  
"I was trying to protect Number 3."  
  
Some of the KND and TND burst out in laughter at her strange remark. Number 1 felt a blush rising to her cheeks and looked to the side.  
  
"A likely story," Numbah 86 snapped. "That's what they all say. They were just trying to help the team. Well, I've got news for you! You're a dirty liar and cannot be trusted as a member of the TND."  
  
"Numbah 86, let me handle this," Number 86 insisted, giving her counterpart a little nudge to the side.  
  
"You must believe me!" Number 1 exclaimed. "I would never do anything to put a member of my team's life in danger."  
  
"I can't exactly trust you," Number 86 replied. "You do have a past with threats and serious offenses."  
  
"But she's different now!" Numbah 1 exploded.  
  
"Did we ask you?!" Numbah 86 shouted back. Numbah 1 got the hint and stood quietly. He looked over the rim of his sunglasses and saw Number 3 looking concerned.  
  
{That's weird,} he thought. {Why would someone who could have been killed by an enemy feel bad for the person that caused it? That just doesn't make sense.} Numbah 1 crossed his arms and looked to Numbah 3. She wasn't looking too happy either. {She must feel bad that someone's getting decommissioned because of something she planned, but I wonder what Number 1 did this for.}  
  
"Number 86," Number 1 explained, "believe whatever you want. I know that I didn't mean to hurt Number 3. It never crossed my mind. I never wanted to, and I don't plan to in the future. All I plan to do is stop an evil future from happening."  
  
"Can you see the future?" Numbah 86 asked, putting her hands on hips.  
  
"Sort of. I've been trying to control my temper through meditation. I think I'm gaining ESP because of it. I'm not sure. Maybe I'm becoming psychic. One day, right in the middle of a session, I saw something horrible. An innocent little girl was writhing in pain. Color seemed to be draining from her body and-"  
  
"I've heard enough!" Numbah 86 snapped. "That is such nonsense, it's not even funny! I'll bet the adults are teaching you to use this power. For all we know, you could be in league with the adults."  
  
"I'd never do that!" Number 1 yelled. "I remain loyal to the Teens Next Door!"  
  
"Yeah, sure."  
  
"Numbah 86 has a point, Number 1," Number 86 agreed. "You show all signs of an alliance with the adults. I wouldn't be surprised if you were."  
  
"Neither would I," Number 4 mumbled under her breath.  
  
"Listen," Number 1 begged, "I know I'm not the best person to hang out with. I know I lose my temper very easily. I know I have somewhat of a criminal past, but I wouldn't want to literally hurt my friend."  
  
Number 86 scratched her chin. She didn't like where this was going. Number 1 was her friend, and she didn't want to lose such a great operative like her. Number 1 really was one in a million. Besides, where would anyone be able to find another first in command? Not a lot of people had that kind of maturity or discipline.  
  
"I say she's in league with the adults," Numbah 4 announced.  
  
"No, I'm not!" Number 1 screamed, jolting her head towards the Kid Next Door and giving him a haunting stare.  
  
"Then prove it,"  
  
"How am I supposed to do that?"  
  
"If you can't, then I say we decommission her."  
  
"Number 1," Numbah 86 stated, "you are officially in league with the adults. You have betrayed the Teens Next Door."  
  
"As Number 86, head of decommissioning, I have no choice but to-"  
  
"STOP!!!"  
  
The world turned silent. None of the KND had spoken. None of the TND had spoken. Mushi and Lizzie were both at their houses. Nobody else in the teams was there. At least that's what they thought.  
  
"That girl has not sided with the adults. She is a full-blown Teen Next Door."  
  
Everybody looked to the other side of the street. The decommissioning trial and ceremony took place outside, and there, on the other side of the street, was an old Kid Next Door. Cree.  
  
"Well, if it isn't teenager Cree," Numbah 86 said casually. "Where have you been?"  
  
"Cut the cheep talk," Cree ordered. "It's not like I'm standing up for Megan or anything. In fact, I hate her a lot. I'm only doing this to protect the adults. I'm also protecting Father and Mother."  
  
"You mean, you-"  
  
"Yes, Number 1," Cree continued, "the Delightful Teens, the Delightful Children, and I have all teamed up. Don't think I'm doing this to protect you or because I like you. All I know is that she's not with us. She's a Teen Next Door. She wouldn't want to hurt one of her fellow operatives. Take it from someone who's with the adults."  
  
"We've got our eye on you," Numbah 86 warned.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Cree spat out. She continued to walk down the sidewalk away from the younger ones.  
  
"Well, in a twisted thing of fate, I guess you're innocent," Number 86 said to Number 1, "but this is your final warning. If we get another call and you've done something stupid again, we'll get you for real."  
  
"Yes, ma'am," Number 1 replied. Numbah 1 walked over to Number 1 and undid the ropes tied around her hands. Number 1 gave her fingers a stretch and glared at Number 86. "I'm going to take a walk," she said, and she started down the street.  
  
"I'm glad Number 1's not being decommissioned," Number 3 announced. "I think she was trying to do the wrong thing for the right reason."  
  
Suddenly, Numbah 5 came walking out of the tree house.  
  
"Man," she began, "Numbah 5 has got to stop drinking so much soda during decommissioning ceremonies. What'd I miss?"  
  
"Nothing," Numbah 1 replied. "Number 1's still in the Teens Next Door."  
  
"I'm happy. She's your counterpart, your friend. It wouldn't be the same here without her."  
  
"No, it wouldn't,"  
  
A few minutes later, Number 1 was out of the neighborhood and in the city. She searched her skirt pocket for some money. She pulled out five dollars and seventy-two cents, just enough to get a small cup of coffee. She headed into the café and walked to the counter. The aroma of coffee and fresh-baked muffins filled the air. Classical music was playing and the black walls made the room seem warm for some reason. Number 1 ordered a small coffee and sat down in one of the chairs. She poured a little bit of milk and sugar into the hot beverage and took a sip. She set the cup down and looked to the other side of the room. She spotted Cree.  
  
"Hi," she called. Cree didn't respond. She had her own cup of coffee that she took a sip of ever few seconds. She looked out the window at the snow lying on the ground and the people all bundled up passing by. She seemed angry. Her eyes were narrowed and her eyebrows came low on them. Number 1 got up from her seat and walked over to the other side of the café. She stopped and stood in front of the older teenager.  
  
"Don't talk to me," Cree snapped.  
  
"I just wanted to thank you for saving me from a fate I didn't deserve," Number 1 said gently. "I know I deserve to be punished for putting Number 3's life in danger, but definitely not for being with the adults because I'm not with the adults. I wonder what they'll do to me. What do you think?"  
  
"I think you talk way too much and way too fast."  
  
"Oh, sorry. Listen, I know you don't like me, but what made you stand up for me when I was about to be decommissioned?"  
  
"If word got out that you were with the adults," Cree began, "then Father and Mother would be ruined. The Delightfuls would lose their dignity as villains, and I'd be known as some teenager that hangs out with stupid kids and immature little teens. Do you think I'd want that?"  
  
"No,"  
  
"Good answer. I was protecting my title. However, just because of this, do not think I'll be there to back you up on all of your problems. I have my own crap to deal with. I have a sister in the Kids Next Door. We're enemies. I know you have a little brother, but you should be thankful that he's not part of those dumb KND."  
  
"I am."  
  
"Good."  
  
Cree threw on her winter coat over her pink shirt and blue jeans and left the café without another word. Number 1 watched her walk down the street until she couldn't see her anymore. She walked back to her seat and sat down. She took another sip of her coffee and stared down at the floor.  
  
"Why is it that I can feel so high and mighty when head of an organization, but I feel like such a nonentity around older, more powerful teenagers like Cree?" she asked herself. She left the coffee on the table and headed for home.  
  
Back at the tree house, Number 1 sat with Number 2 in front of the TV. It was off. Silence bounced against the walls of the hang out room. Their ears rang. Number 1 brought her legs up to her chest and sighed.  
  
"Do you want to yell at me?" she asked her fellow operative. "I can't blame you if you want to."  
  
"I don't want to yell," Number 2 insisted. "I want to celebrate. You haven't been decommissioned. I'm really happy."  
  
"Please, it's not like I'm that important anyway," Number 1 suggested. "What Numbah 1 said back when we baby-sat him and the KND was right: I don't have any friends. I've never had any. I probably never will."  
  
"Don't say that," Number 2 begged. "It'll make me sad. It's a lie. You have friends."  
  
"Right,"  
  
Number 2 could feel her temper rising, something that didn't happen very often. She became confused. She looked straight at her leader.  
  
"Number 1, you are my best friend," she said. "I'd do anything for you. I'd even follow you into another life."  
  
"Seriously?"  
  
"Yeah,"  
  
Number 1 smiled. "Thanks, Jennifer Venus."  
  
"Anytime, Megan Un." The two operatives laughed and turned on the TV.  
  
That night, Number 3 went to bed around ten o'clock. He opened up the door to his room and stepped inside. There stood Numbah 3. For a while, the counterparts stood, staring at each other, not saying a word. Finally, Number 3 spoke up.  
  
"One question."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Are you happy now?"  
  
~*End Transmission*~  
  
I'd like to give a special thanks to Michelle Branch for a song that is so true. Keep a look out for the fourth story in the Teens Next Door series: Operation: C.H.I.L.L. 


End file.
